How do you stop a neutered dog from marking territory in your house?
As with most things, the best cure is prevention. By having your dog neutered before they reach the age when they start marking, you can save yourself a lot of trouble. However, that is not always possible.
You may have adopted an adult, unneutered dog, or perhaps you have chosen to hold off on neutering your puppy for other reasons. Whatever the reason, you might find that your dog is long past the age where neutering will prevent marking. Nevertheless, there are still some steps you can take.
As long as your dog isn’t marking every inch of the house, something, or somewhere, triggers it. Identifying a specific trigger, such as a spot, will inform how you address the problem.
For instance, it may be the neighbor’s cat coming for a daily visit or it may be a new male dog in your household. In either situation, it is best to control your dog’s environment and remove the stressor. Another option is to crate your dog if the stressor is temporary.
If your dog focuses on marking a specific spot or in a specific room, the first thing you should do is try to restrict access. Then, if possible, keep your dog away from that area.
Next, you want to clean the spot thoroughly. The marking instinct can get triggered by the smell of a previously marked spot. Because dogs have a very keen sense of smell, it’s important to clean the spot with a purpose-made cleaning solution.
After the spot is clean, you can use a potty training aid, such as a no-go potty training spray, to deter your dog from marking the area again. In addition, you can use a ‘go-here’ potty training spray to assist in training your dog to go to a designated spot.
New items like furniture, appliances, and decor can put your dog in the marking mindset. It can be a challenge limiting your dog’s access to new things in the house. Avoiding a nasty surprise means vigilance, and you will have to monitor your dog around the new thing closely.
Dog’s peeing on the furniture is a common occurrence.
A deterrent spray may help, but if your dog is adamant, it will take direct intervention to stop them from laying claim to your new couch. On the other hand, if you can keep them from marking it, your dog should learn to ignore the new thing as the novelty wears off.
There could be another reason that your dog marks inside. Unseen visitors, particularly strange dogs that come too close to your home, can trigger your dog’s marking instincts. The solution here is less about stopping the behavior and more about addressing the situation.
A dog should receive proper socialization throughout their lives, which usually prevents this behavior. But, if the unfamiliar dogs are marking territory on or around your property, you can’t blame your dog for trying to bolster their claim to the house.
Unsupervised dogs pose a risk, and if possible, you should identify the owners of the dogs and ask them to help find a solution to the problem. If the dogs in question are strays, you must contact animal control or a similar NPO.
It doesn’t always feel great doing so, but stray dogs pose a risk to neighborhood animals, children, and property. It’s the responsible thing to do.
There is always the possibility that your dog is not marking at all. Some medical conditions relating to the urinary tract and bladder can cause behavior that mimics marking. Fortunately, there are distinctions between the behaviors.
The ‘markings’ won’t usually occur in the same spot. Your dog doesn’t think about how the behavior looks to you. If their body tells them to do something in response to a medical condition, they won’t put much thought into it.
If you suspect that your dog might have a medical condition that has them ‘marking’ in or around the house, you must schedule an appointment with your vet. Such infections can start pretty mild but can worsen if they go untreated.
How does neutering stop a dog from marking in your house?
In male dogs, territorial marking is an instinctive behavior that is ‘activated’ when their bodies start producing male sex hormones. The hormones, or androgens, are responsible for several aspects of a male dog’s behavior.
One of the most observable behaviors associated with male sex hormones is aggression, especially towards other male dogs. The male dog’s marking behavior ties into that aggression as it all stems from a territorial drive to deter sexual competitors.
When a dog gets neutered, their body doesn’t produce the androgens responsible for that behavior anymore. Therefore many of the associated behaviors fall away. That includes the territorial drive to mark their territory,
Female dogs mostly use markings to communicate territorial messages. For example, these messages can indicate that a female is on heat. Like males, most of the markings that an intact female makes communicate information regarding reproduction and territory.
These behaviors are closely linked to the female dog’s hormones, especially when she enters heat and during pregnancy. When a female dog gets spayed, all of the hormonal imperative she had to communicate through marking is lost. Of course, marking is different for females than it is for males, as they are not lifting their legs to claim territory.
Why does my dog pee more after being neutered?
Because after a spay surgery a dog is recovering and at times is in pain, chances are she may hold the urine for a longer period of time then usual. This causes the urine to concentrate and create the ideal environment for bacteria to thrive.
How to Stop Your Dog From Peeing Indoors
Let’s face it, dogs are territorial animals by nature. They like to protect their territory, their family, and their belongings. Territorial marking is different from urination because it is only a small amount to make other dogs aware that this is their territory. When people notice that their dog has been marking around the house, it is not usually done out of spite, but out of insecurity.
For a dog, this insecurity may be a sense that their area is under siege by another person or animal inside the house, or even outside in some cases. Territoriality is not always a bad thing, but it is definitely bad for your home, because it involves urination around things or places that “belong” to the dog; exposure to the scent later can also trigger re-marking. Here is what you need to know in order to prevent this behavior.
If you have not already done so, having your dog spayed or neutered can reduce incidences of territorial marking. It can also extend your dog’s life, improve other aspects of their health, and reduce the number of unwanted dogs. Dogs that have been spayed or neutered can and do still engage in marking behaviors from time to time, depending on other factors. According to a report from the Humane Society, spaying or neutering your pet may help reduce likelihood that they will mark their territory, but it does not completely stop it.